About the Author

Rita Marley performs with the reggae group I-Three and helps run the Bob Marley Foundation. Rita was married to Bob Marley in 1966, when she was nineteen and he was twenty-one, and she remained his wife until his death in 1981. The mother of Bob's children, she performs worldwide. She makes her home in Ghana, West Africa. Hettie Jones is a poet and prose writer, author of numerous books, including How I Became Hettie Jones, a memoir of the Beats and of her former marriage to LeRoi Jones (now Amiri Baraka). She lives in New York City, where she teaches writing at New School University and the 92nd Street Y Poetry Center.

Reviews

"Her writing carries a distinct patois and a directness that makes the book a breezy kind of read."--The Hamilton Spectator

"Rita does his legacy a great favor by humanizing him and his astounding musical gifts."--Rolling Stone

Fans of reggae legend Bob Marley will welcome this no-nonsense biography from his wife, Rita, who was also his band member, business partner, musical collaborator and the only person to have witnessed firsthand his development from local Jamaican singer to international superstar. Aided by poet and memoirist Jones (How I Became Hettie Jones), Rita presents the powerful details of her early life story: her youth in the Trench Town ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica, living with "thugs, thieves, killers, prostitutes, gamblers"; her encounters with the early "Wailing Wailers"; and how her relationship with Bob cemented as they spent days recording in Dodd's Studio One. Throughout, this memoir emphasizes Rita's own substantial musicianship, first as part of Bob Marley's backing vocalists, the I-Threes, and later her own career after his death "carrying on a legacy that means so much to the world." Those subjects provide a positive balance to unpleasant experiences such as dealing with Bob Marley's various mistresses during his life and defending herself from accusations after his death that she was financially abusing his estate. This is far from a definitive look at Bob Marley, and for a comprehensive, critical look at the singer it would be hard to compete with Timothy White's definitive Catch a Fire. But this book makes an important contribution to our understanding of Marley and Jamaican music in general. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

"Her writing carries a distinct patois and a directness that makes the book a breezy kind of read."--The Hamilton Spectator
"Rita does his legacy a great favor by humanizing him and his astounding musical gifts."--Rolling Stone